Ritchie Venner has set his sights on breaking the record for Sussex singles titles.

Venner, the defending champion, won his eighth crown at Horsham on Sunday with victory in the final against Crawley rival, Mayur Majithia, 21-19, 21-10.

That puts him one behind the record of nine wins set a decade ago by Brighton's Roger Chandler.

Venner said: "I'm delighted to win eight times but I want to beat Roger's record by winning twice more in 2002 and 2003."

In the final, Majithia threatened only once at 18-18 in the first game, but after that Venner closed the door.

Second seed Adrian Moore and third seed Andy Walker both pulled out with flu.

Rose Rainton (Bexhill) won the women's crown for a fifth time, a record in the modern era. In the final she defeated Teresa Bennett 21-14, 21-9.

Earlier Bennett, a former triple winner of the Sussex crown, beat local favourite Sally Weston 21-14, 21-12.

There was a remarkable upset in the men's group when 63-year-old Martin Chinn (Hastings) defeated the England No.24 veteran Terry Haley. Chinn is rated 424.

Brighton champion Paul Elphick seemed to be heading for the final when he took the first semi-final leg from Majithia, but the Crawley champion battled back to win.